meals

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I’ll be donating any affiliate income this month to Boston’s Forgotten Felines to help with the crisis of abandoned and feral cats on the streets of Boston. There are LOTS of them!

 

I’m excited to be working with Just Add Cooking again for the next couple of months to review their meal delivery service. I first tried Just Add Cooking in October and absolutely loved it, so I was excited when they contacted me to work together again. As part of our partnership I received three meals for two this month as well as an affiliate code for my readers to order. Scroll to the bottom to find that!

It was actually hard to find a week in April that I would be home for dinner for three days, between our trip to Maine, family visiting from Ireland, events, and general busy-ness, but I did it! Though my husband doesn’t think it’s dinner without meat involved,  I am trying to help us live longer and be kinder to the planet, so I went with one vegetarian meal (Lentil and Mushroom Shepherd’s Pie), one meat meal (Sliders and Gorgonzola Salad), and one fish meal (Cod with Broccoli and Orange).

Just Add Cooking

Just Add Cooking has much better photos than mine.

Just Add Cooking

I was excited to see our Just Add Cooking box when we pulled up to the house (Placed in the shade, thank you, delivery person!) and tucked right into to see what was inside. As I mentioned in my past post, the packaging is minimal and is recyclable or reusable. The cold bag it came in is even compostable! It’s mixed in with my compost as we speak. And I am using the paper bags and little cheese cups for planting seedlings. The box itself is a cat hideaway.

  Fresh Box Farms

One of the most fun things about digging through the Just Add Cooking box is seeing what local farms provided ingredients for that week’s meals. I love recognizing names like Fresh Box Farms for my greens and Vermont Creamery for my butter, and I was thrilled to see Red’s Best fish in there as well! I have been a huge Red’s Best fan ever since I went to an event they held years ago.Vermont Creamery

First up was the cod, which was a “hard” recipe. It basically had three components, prepping the couscous, broccoli, and fish separately, but I didn’t find it difficult. I love how Just Add Cooking times the recipe for you so everything is ready at the same time. I also loved that they definitely listened to my feedback. Last time I mentioned that I wish there were more vegetables, and sure enough, we had tons! I even had broccoli left over for an omelet the next day. The orange sauce was so yummy, and I loved the couscous in yogurt with chives. So easy and flavorful! The cod, of course stole the show. It was fresh and perfect.

Red's Best Cod Next up were the Sliders on a Gorgonzola Dressed Salad. This was a very easy one and also provided leftovers. The gorgonzola sauce was heavenly, and I loved the greens and addition of black beans for fiber and even more protein. The only downside in the recipe was that the burgers needed more of a dry binder, maybe some panko crumbs or something, to hold them together. I was really full from this dinner, which was great, because I wasn’t rooting through the cabinets at 10:00 pm looking for a snack!

sliders recipe salad

The third dinner was the easiest of all. We love Shepherd’s Pie, and this lentil version definitely gave the traditional meat option a run for its money. Mushrooms and red wine added an earthy, heartiness to the lentil mixture, and the mashed potatoes had goat cheese from Narragansett Creamery in them. How good does that sound?!

I’m obsessed with asparagus this time of year and loved the simple lemony preparation. Side note: did you know that Hampshire County in Western MA has the world’s best asparagus?

lentil shepherd's pie

This meal also left plenty of the pie behind for leftovers and was even better the next day.

Having three meals already planned and proportioned out made my life a lot easier and took one worry off my list this week. I love that the company is Boston-based (Dorchester shoutout!) and that the food is so good.

Ready to try Just Add Cooking? They’re offering special pricing for your first box, starting at just $39 for a 3-meal, 2-person box! To claim your trial box, create an account on Just Add Cooking and enter TRAVEL in the coupon code field.

 

About Just Add Cooking

Voted Boston’s Best by the Improper Bostonian, Just Add Cooking is Boston’s only

LOCAL meal kit delivery company. They make home-cooked weeknight dinners fun,

easy and delicious. Every week, Just Add Cooking offers seven different recipes,

including vegetarian and gluten-free options. You log in, pick your recipes and they

deliver all the ingredients you need, right to your door.

Tags: Food, Just Add Cooking, meal planning, meals

Chili is the perfect weekend food. I have spent the past two Sundays leisurely working on big batches of chili and toppings, enjoying my new kitchen, having little dance parties, and making the most of the cold weather.

I love chili because you can add anything and everything and come up with a different recipe each time. I’m sure I have shared that sentiment a million times before, but in a busy world, it is definitely a welcome little trick.

This chili isn’t too complicated, and like most of its kind is fine with substitutions.

Ingredients

2 cans fire roasted tomatoes (depends on how liquid-y you want your chili)

1 can black beans

1 can Cuban style or BBQ beans

1 pound grass fed ground beef

2 cups sweet corn

3 tablespoons chipotle in adobo, finely pureed

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 large white onion, diced

splash of chocolate stout

spices to taste: garlic powder, crushed red pepper, chili powder, hot paprika

fire roasted tomatoes

chili ingredients

unsweetened cacao

corn

diced onionI started the chili by cooking down the chopped onion in some olive oil, then adding in the ground beef until browned. As it browned, I added the cocoa powder and shakes of garlic powder, crushed red pepper, and hot paprika. Once the beef was browned, I added the tomatoes, beans, and corn, then stirred in the chipotle. Finally, I added the beer and brought it all up to a simmer, going about my day as the wonderful smells filled the air. I let the chili cook for a couple of hours, then shut the heat off. When we were ready to eat I brought it up to a boil again and made sure it was cooked and hot through.

taza chocolate stoutWe topped the chili with sliced avocado, pickled jalapeno, shredded cheese, sour cream, and cilantro, with a side of chocolate stout. It was the perfect Sunday supper and made for days of lunch leftovers for my husband. There’s a good chance I will be kicking off another week with this chili. It’s just that good!

cocoa chipotle chili

What are you having for Sunday supper this week?

Tags: beer, chili, comfort food, cooking, cooking at home, Food, meals, recipe, Sunday dinner

A sauce so delicious you want to put it on everything? This is it. Last summer our friends hosted us at a fantastic July 4th barbecue. It was hot and sunny, we had spent the earlier part of the day on the boat (Just over 2 months til boating season!), and we were relaxing around the fire pit with fun friends and amazing food. Venezuelan friends of our friends brought a green sauce that they apparently are asked to bring to every party. I’m not even sure what I was supposed to put it on, but once I tasted it, I wanted to put it on everything, so I did.

Fast forward to February, this cold and dreary month where things have been stressful in this household, to say the very least. The summer sun and sea can’t come fast enough; at least then when our nasty neighbor is making me sick with her smoking I can go sleep on the boat!

I had a random craving for steak last week, and this green sauce popped into my head again. A quick Google of “Venezuelan green sauce” brought me to this page, which features a recipe for Guasacaca. I didn’t know the name, but going by the way the sauce tasted, the ingredients sounded right, so I decided to make it. guasacaca ingredients

Guasacaca is a vibrant green sauce that combines avocados, green peppers, garlic, onion, vinegar, and oil with generous amounts cilantro and parsley. The vinegar gives it a little tang while the herbs make it bright and flavorful.

oil and vinegar

To my Guasacaca, I also added two Thai green chili peppers, not Venezuelan, I know, but I wanted a little bit of heat. It was a good decision.

guasacaca

For Thursday night dinner, I picked up four small sirloin steaks at Foodie’s Urban Market, which is dangerously close to my South End office. They have such a great selection of all sorts of food, wine, and beer, and while it’s pricey, it’s also handy for picking up one or two items during the week.

sirloin steak

I simply prepped my steaks by seasoning on both sides with sea salt and pepper and grilling them to perfection on my grill pan. I topped the steaks with the Guasacaca and served with mountains of steamed spinach and baked sweet potatoes, both of which found their way dipped in the Guasacaca as well.

steak with guasacaca

This meal was perfect, a mix of winter and summer and a delicious way to brighten up a challenging week. The addition of a Chilean red wine on the side definitely didn’t hurt.

How are you keeping warm and hopeful for brighter days this February?

Ingredients: (adapted from original recipe posted on on Venezuelan Food and Drinks)

1 medium onion, roughly chopped

2 green sweet peppers, seeded, deveined, and roughly chopped

2 ripe avocados, peeled and seeded

2 cloves garlic

2 spicy green chili peppers

Half a bunch of fresh parsley leaves

Half a bunch fresh cilantro leaves

A third cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon salt, or to taste

Pinch of black pepper

1 cup olive oil

Add all ingredients except for the olive oil to food processor and puree until smooth. Slowly stream in olive oil until combined completely.

Serve this sauce with meat, fish, vegetables, chips, crackers. . . it’s so delicious it goes well with just about everything.

Tags: comfort food, dinner, Food, Guasacaca, meal planning, meals, recipe, steak

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